5 Reasons I Didn’t Read Your Blog Post

Everyday, I probably read a hundred blog posts. I really enjoy it. There are some amazing writers out there sharing fabulous content. They inspire me and often spark an idea for my next blog post. I know, I am really bad at commenting and I’m really sorry to all of you for that but I’m much more a social media gal so most times, I will comment on your post within the social media platform I found you.

I do like to share and promote other bloggers’ work, so you will see my feeds filled to the brim with my great finds. And rest assured, everything I have shared, I have read. I like to know who and what I’m promoting.

I do have my regulars that fall into my e-mail inbox or appear in my WordPress reader daily but I am constantly scouring the internet for new bloggers to read and follow. So you may ask, “How do I get on your regular blog read list?”

You may be surprised to hear that great content is not a guarantee to land on my must read list. Mainly because I may never actually read your post even though I’ve been intrigued enough to land on your page. I often have clicked the “X” faster than you can say “blargon” because of my first impression of your blog.

If you want to increase your followers and lower your bounce rates, please correct the following on your blog.

5 Reasons I Didn’t Read Your Blog Post

1. E-mail Subscriptions/Pop-ups At Entry
Holy Crap! I just hit your blog for the first time and you want me to subscribe? Give me a break. I do not have anything against pop-ups or calls to action but geez Louise can you let me read some of your content first before I decide? Set up your CTA’s to trigger at 3/4 post read or upon post navigation instead of upon entry.

Plus, I can’t tell you how many times my big, fat finger on my sensitive touch screen has shut your window completely instead of the pop-up when I was trying to close it. I usually won’t try going in again.

2. Double-Click
Studies have shown again and again that the more clicks it takes to get to your content/product, the less likely the reader will continue clicking to where you want them to go. Anything that makes me click twice to make me see your post has already lost me.

This mostly happens for me on Twitter.

If I notice that your tweet takes me to any of the following places before your blog post, I won’t click it.

Linkis

Google +

FaceBook fan page

Pinterest pin

I understand you are trying to drive and measure traffic, but it won’t be from me.

3. Not Mobile Friendly
I literally do 95% of my reading on my mobile. Yes, I’m a cranky old bitch who needs reading glasses so give me a break, won’t you? If I have to enlarge your post to read it (cause it looks like it was written on the back of a pin), then, I have to push the screen back and forth to finish a sentence, I will get frustrated and leave. Google penalizes sites that have not been optimized for mobile devices. Please, please, I beg you for my sake and for the SEO rankings of your blog, make your blog mobile responsive.

4. Too Long and Visually Boring
There is nothing worse than arriving at a post and being met by a huge chunk of print. That’s all. This is a visual world baby, throw me a bone! (Or at least a pic of one) And if I have to scroll and scroll and scroll to see the end of your post, I better be intrigued enough by your topic or it’s buh-bye. Remember, brevity is best and break up your post visually with pics, titles, quotes and some white space.

5. Too Busy
Conversely it looks like some of you just discovered your tool box on your WordPress post creator. Colours, shapes, sizes, videos, pics, quotes. You know just because all those things are available to you, doesn’t mean you have to use every single one in every post. Remember that too busy can turn people off too. It also becomes very unclear to the reader what the most important message is that you are trying to convey because you’ve marque’d with flashing lights everything.

Make your blog as visually appealing and reader friendly as you can. What good is having great content when your reader’s first impression of your blog makes them bounce out before having read a single word.

What makes you bounce out of blogs before you have read a single word?

All of that makes sense. It’s like putting up your stall at the end of a maze. Potential readers get lost right after the entrance!!
I sincerely hope my blog doesn’t have any of these and is a warm and welcoming site.
Thanks Elena for some great tips.

I am the worst about being verbose and wordy and I know it! I do try to break it up with some IG photos, although I feel like a did a better job at visual stimulation on my shopgirl blog than I do on my present princess castle blog.

Thanks for this advice. Having a website and blog page is quite daunting, especially when you’re not so literate regarding SEO’s, plugins, etc, etc. Most of those things are an alien language to me. I also hate popup subscribe windows – it drives me scatty. Looking forward to some more tips etc.

It is a learning process for sure but the one thing you can control and that will make everything easier is your content. Make it great. Make it what your readers want and most importantly, connect with them.

Adverts popping up all over the place…I can’t bear them! Also impossible comment widgets! I spend a while writing a thoughtful comment, then have to jump through hoops to post it. Really hate that and I usually give up and delete said comment! Glad to see I don’t violate any of your rules…

Ah, Elena, yes! I was a little nervous to read this in case I violate all 5 of your reasons haha! Thankfully, that is not the case 🙂 I, too, HATE HATE HATE popups and for the very reason you said- how in the hell can I know if I want to subscribe if I can’t read your stuff. GIT OUT OF MY WAY. I just re-designed my blog and that was the #1 thing I discussed w/ my consultant – no pop ups. Thanks for reminding us how not to piss off our readers!

“This is a visual world baby, throw me a bone! (Or at least a pic of one)” Haha! Yes! I too read a freakish amount of blog posts a day and when I come across a big ol’ chunk of text I go “ughh, don’t make me work for it!” lol

I don’t actually mind long posts as long as they are interesting and draw me in. 🙂

I am with you on the e-mail pop ups, and the eye-sore posts with all the colours gifs etc!

I am also a bit put off my blogs that are so obviously just in it for freebies/money. It’s just that I mostly don’t find the content of those kind of “this is amazing buy it now” blogs very interesting…

Okay now why didn’t you comment read follow mine… maybe I need a new deodorant. *sigh* I try to get the technical stuff right. Stories you probably don’t like flash fiction quick reads for your lunch break… maybe you don’t get a lunch break? Note for tomorrow leave sandwiches out for the hungry readers… best still cake! *wink wink*

Reblogged this on Planet Simon and commented:
Hi guys, sorry I’ve not been about much this week. I just found Elena on the bloggers bash chat Twitter page and this great post on what we makes us read a blog post. Certainly much of what she says here I can relate to.
Great post btw Elena, I hope you don’t mind me reblogging.

Hi Elena! I like your tips, and appreciate that you actually read the posts you share. I do, too. I was just wondering if that’s the norm or the exception. For some reason it feels inauthentic to me to just retweet what I haven’t read and enjoyed myself. The investment in time pays off in my mind, because I learn stuff and enjoy the new perspectives. Also, blogger-people are awesome. 🙂

Thank you for the post. #1 gets me, and being too busy. Though my biggest one is when the subscribe pop up takes up the whole page and I can’t find the x. I close the tab and don’t go back. Thank you for these tips. They are great to keep in mind for every post.

It drives me crazy when I really like the content of an article, or want to follow someone’s blog because of their social media, but I have to try to find their subscription section for 10 minutes. I agree that it’s no fun getting a pop up with a subscription request, but I shouldn’t have to navigate through multiple pages to subscribe either!

Thanks for telling me what I need to do. First, though, I have attached you to my Follow List, through Skinny and Single. Your mention of taking surveys intrigued me. Back to my blog. I am a storyteller. So my blog is once a month, a memoir-story. I will not bore you, I promise. Enjoy.

Just found you via Pinterest and I’m glad I did. I’m getting ready to start a blog and these tips are a good reminder of what I dislike, also. The pop up at entry is my number 1 pet peeve followed by minuscule print on my phone. Grrrrrr!!! Thanks, again.

My thoughts exactly! #1 is my absolute pet pieve. I get out of there a.s.a.p. when that happens to me. There’s nothing I would add to your list…you got them all! Great read too. I love your sense of humor!

Your post is so true. The amount of times I have started reading a post and after about 5 minutes lost the will to live. And the whole pop up to subscribe thing – I hate pushy people! I’ve just started my blog and plan to keep it K.I.S.S.
p.s. Thanks for being my first follower. You rock!

Pop-ups, yeah. Double-clicks, definitely. Low-contrast type, drives me nuts. Like rambling on about like your best EVER dog and your vacation before you get like to the not-remotely-connected point, uh-huh. Subject/title hooks that end up to be something else entirely, thanks I won’t come back.

Elena, just found your article and couldn’t agree more. I’ve only been blogging about 15 months and even I know this stuff is distractling and unappealing. My other pet peeves: pop-up ads that are so distracting I can’t read the content. Funky-colored backgrounds (purple) with green text. Hurts my eyes. Images that can’t be pinned. Bloggers who don’t tell me their name. Thanks for reminding me to let the content and photos be the start of the post.

Hi Carol! So pleased to meet you! Thankfully, at the start of next year, Google is going to start penalizing sites with popups on mobile. It is very annoying when you can’t read the content so I’m glad a giant like google is stepping up and letting site owners know that readers hate it.

Just because you’re one of my favorite bloggers, I battled the 900 comments so I could leave one. I hate, hate, despise and hate the subscribe pop up that greets me on their blog and 9-out-10 times you can’t get rid of it on your mobile device. That’s one of the main reasons I won’t read their blog as well.

Aside from the “Mobile friendly” part (I don’t do blogging on mobile devices) I’m with you on all the points you’ve made here. To me reading a blog should be like opening a book or magazine–print on the page with maybe some pictures, but not a bunch of distractions and clicky thingies that make me feel like I might be getting or gonna get spammed or maybe worse.

I like reading something quick and simple, but with reasonable depth. If I want to work at reading something then I’ll read a book.

I’m not a blogger, but everything you listed rings true. I cannot stand the constant pop-up ads sliding around the page either, also the light print that nearly matches the background. When I land on that, it’s bye bye!

I just discovered your blog through a pin on Pinterest. Thanks for sharing, I think these are some great points. Here are 5 reasons I READ YOUR post today. 1. catchy title 2. Informative 3. helps solve a problem 4.Sense of humor 5. straight to the point . xo, Emily

Totally agree with all your points! I hate pop ups & immediately “x” them out. Then there are the annoying ads that you accidentally click on when trying to navigate the page. I absolutely refuse to read tiny print, especially when it’s not broken up with some white space.

couldn’t agree more about popups. I know they are suppose to help get subscribers but I’m reluctant to add one as I don’t like them. My subscriber base is very low (I’m new) but i have a very good click rate. I wonder if those that subscribe via pop ups are as active. After all if it takes a bit of effort (not too much) to subscribe then they must want to hear from you and read your posts

LOL! That’s exactly my same feeling. I particularly hate the pop-up sign-up boxes. I automatically shut them, never read even one of them. I sometimes wonder whether these things have ever gained a subscription to anyone.

I too read everything I share. It’s a time consuming job, that’s true, but on the other hand, I’ve learned a lot this way 😉

Apparently the pop up boxes do very well and that is why everyone gets them. I just wonder if people fill them out just to get the box to disappear and then they unsubscribe when they get their first email.

thanks for your honesty! A few of our pet peeves are mine as well, I hate websites that are not optimized for mobile since I do read a lot on the go and also sites with the pesky email form! I know how important it is but there are other ways to have it on your site.

You may also want to check your own mobile responsiveness for your comments. I had to re-enter your blog post FIVE times to leave these comments. 🙁 I can’t delete what I’ve typed–the last comment I couldn’t backspace and had to either post it or abort in order to add this part. It’s most likely a theme issue or because you’re running ads–you need to check with your web person to fix that!

I agree with the subscription pop-ups–Google actually said in a recent SEO update that it would penalize sites that have polyps because most people do NOT complete the action in a pop-up! It’s best to have your email signup be in your sidebar. 🙂

I am also surprised at how many bloggers write all long-form blog posts. Realistically, people aren’t reading and are scrolling through long-form posts AND it’s not doing anything more for your SEO than a 500-word post (which blogs should be aiming to reach on a minimum anyway).

Thank you Elena for sharing these tips. I hate popups too and I’m glad I’m not guilty of these ” blogging sins.” I love your straightforward writing style. I look forward to reading more of your post as well.

I won’t read a blog for long if there is a video that explains something that could have been done in words and pictures. We pay for each mb of data we use…. I won’t click on videos and I resent it when someone puts up a video without the tutorial to back it up. Videos are too expensive for us to watch.

I don’t like videos too 🙂 in the same manner “that explains something that could have been done in words and pictures”. If the video is additional and I loose nothing if not watching it, it is ok. But if it is the only thing in the blog post – pff… won’t be back.

The blog has to be appealing to my eye, and the font must be readable for me to stick with it. I’ve ran across a couple blogs lately where the color of the font absolutely kills my eyes (bright lime greens, neon yellows, pastel colors, etc). It’s especially killer when the background of the blog pages are black, so that really contrasts with the lime green and bright colors. The subscription pop ups are annoying also.

I’m so happy to read others who recommend AGAINST the subscription pop-up. Along those lines, another “reason I didn’t read your blog post” is if I couldn’t find it again! While I’m anti-pop-up, I’m also annoyed by those who seemingly hide their subscribe feature or bury it at the very bottom of their site.

This is good to know. I started writing a blog last year because I write all of the time. Ut have been too afraid to post. I finally got over it and started caring about releasing what I have to say then holding it in.
Thanks for posting!

Thanks for the post. I think this is the first article I’ve cut across, with advice to bloggers, that actually gives advice that is achievable by a novice.
I’ve been ‘writing’ a blog for about 6 months but haven’t written a lot and haven’t promoted it at all. I wanted different and was told my view on life (as a sick girl of 25 yrs) was something if interest but have been put off by blog advisers telling me I need direction and a specific idea to work around! My life is as scatterbrained as by head and focus and direction is not my forte.
The fact I spent months reading the what don’t to dos scared me as a new blogger so I retreated, yours (and the comments) told and then helped. Too many bloggers seem to tell you and then leave you hanging!
I also found the blogs that tell me I need this ??whatever?? on my site but doesn’t tell me where to get it or how to install it! The world if plugins I’d still an enigma for me, I know the ones I apparently need but even if I’ve found them it’s not clear on my next step or they’re chargeable (which hadn’t been passed on in original post) and as a newbie and also a non profit (no plans, didn’t think my thoughts would make money!) spending out money now would be a waste if my blog flops!
I think is new bloggers could do with more bloggers like you to inform and help not preach and hinder! Thank you, I look forward to reading you more! x

I can’t stand when a popup to subscribe covers my screen seconds after I open the site. And because it usually happens when I’m trying to read something on my vertically locked phone and I can’t find the close button. Then my dog starts looking at me funny because I’m yelling at my phone saying “I don’t want to subscribe to your #$%@ site, I just want to read (whatever it is that made me click on the link in the first place)”

I can’t believe in this day and age people aren’t making sure their web presence looks good on a mobile phone. And works to the point I’m not trying to find the “view desktop version” link.

number one is my biggest blogging irritation… Geez Louise exactly! It’s something I’m noticing lately anyway.. Many people (including myself) don’t tend to subscribe to my blog anymore. Not bad perse.. Since the number of visits isn’t declining. Personally I prefer checking out blogs through a reader or blog community…that way my inbox doesn’t explode..

Yes, yes yes! Number 1 really gets me everytime, and number 5, and number 4…might as well just agree that this post is totally spot on. I couldn’t agree more. As I have recently re-entered the blogosphere, this post also serves as a great reminder. Thank you!

I love the energy in your article, funny and to the point! I am a new blogger and have visited some great sites lately looking for hints and guidance. I was easily able to correlate your article to the annoyances I experienced… My biggest thing is pop-ups on my mobile where the close button is so tiny it is impossible to move forward!
Thanks again for saying what most people are thinking!

Love this post! Also not too long – but I bet you didn’t count on 220+ comments to follow. 🙂 I came back a second time just to read the comments – which were also full of good suggestions. You’ve confirmed for me that I need to get rid of the “landing page” with my site so you open at the blogging section. Thank you. Now to figure out how to do that!

I started sweating when I began reading this, nervous that I was doing some of these things to be honest haha
I loved this list and it was a really interesting read that offers several things to keep in mind. Thank you for sharing!

Great post. What a concise shopping list of irritants! I don’t blog, but I subscribe to SO many, and am grateful to those bloggers who make this reading easy on a phone. Bloggers, I am a mum. I read your stuff while waiting for ballet classes to finish, while out in the world sitting in awkward places, filling idle moments. Reading conditions are already suboptimal. Don’t make it harder!

Popup subscription notices on a phone are a blight. Not only does it prevent me from reading upon arrival – it often prevents me reading AT ALL because those popups are oversized, cannot be resized, and have close buttons that are somewhere off screen. For the reasons I often can’t even use them to subscribe, which is pretty funny. This requires the whole window be squashed. Bye bye, your blog.

Conversely, I often find after reading a fabulous blog that I cannot find an email subscription option in an obvious place. I sometimes find it ONLY on the contact page. I sometimes have to trawl the whole site to find it. Please dear bloggers, exploit the moment of my delight by making it easy for me to react enthusiastically to your nice work by leaving ALL KINDS of subscription options in OBVIOUS PLACES. Don’t make me applaud the opera by walking out into the street and cheering at the building.

On phone friendly formats: I can forgive most blogs an array of design faults, mostly because I think that not all possible faults are apparent on home testing. Unless I tell you, you’ll never know. But I am surprised and annoyed by retail giants and news outlets that can’t get this phone thing right. I’ve abandoned shopping with such sites. I do A LOT of shopping and research online. With bloggers and retailers alike. Make it easy for me to shower you with my generous commerce, in the odd moments I am out in the world doing family stuff. I use Safari in a common garden variety iPhone.

One final observation. I found this post via Pinterest, here in bed, on my phone. My reaction is probably as enthused as the 208 replies that were listed at the end of the article. I wanted to join the crowd and scream OMG, YES! But the field for entering a reply is at…. The…… Very……… Bottom……… and I have to flick flick flick scroll scroll for so long to find it that I missed it the first time I scrolled to the bottom. I don’t want to reply randomly to any post, midway, either. How can this be improved?

Thank you so much for your comment Ivy. I shared it with my blogging group and it was the topic of much discussion. Some even suggested you start your own blog. Have you thought about it?

As for the endless scroll, I have asked several people about how I can modify my theme and haven’t received a solution yet. Believe me, I hate it too and I won’t give up till I find the answer. Thank you so much for such a thoughtful comment.

Love it! You hit the mark! I don’t know how many time; I just want to read something and not get bombarded. I have to “bob and weave” to actually read the content and escape the sign up and ads. Great article.

This is all great advice and I’m grateful to have found it!
I actually blog exclusively from my mobile. It is frustrating to come upon a post which really sparked interest only to find you can hardly maneuver away from this pop up or that ad!
Thanks for the reminder of always to be thinking of the different types of readers whom our blog may encounter!

Yup. I totally agree. Especially with pop-ups. I hate those. I might never visit the site again if it’s a really intrusive blog post. Or if the blog is littered with sponsored posts (whatever happened to just WRITING a blog for the sake of writing?).

I don’t know why there is such pressure in the blogging world to make posts 1500 to 2000. That is way to long for me because I do all my reading on my phone. I hate scrolling too much because I forget my place. Good luck in 2016!

This is a really good list (I’m on your Facebook group but found this post through Pinterest)! I have been hesitant to put up a pop-up subscription box. I like the idea of wait until someone tries to navigate, but even then I am not sure it is something I want to do (I NEVER sign up when something like that pops up for me). Do you think it would be best to do without?

One reason I don’t stop to read a blog sometimes is because they don’t show dates at the top of their posts, especially if it is about information such as on blogging or website building. You did–which is why I did read through your tips. This kind of stuff gets outdated so quickly so why waste my time reading old tips and ideas from several years back that won’t be relevant anymore.

This is pure awesomeness. I will immediately close a blog that has tiny compressed font. I have no idea why this is so popular with blogs these days, but nothing you have to say is worth me getting a headache from squinting to read it!

I disagree. If I read a blog post that treats me like I’m an idiot by dumbing down the language, I’ll assume the blogger is an idiot… and leave. I want to engage with people who are intelligent and articulate. I have a dictionary; if someone uses a word I don’t understand, I can look it up. If the topic is interesting enough and the blogger uses a grammatical construction that is correct but requires me to think, I’ll think. It’s more usual, however, that a blogger’s grammar will be poor enough to obscure their meaning. Another reason to leave. As in any writing, clarity should always be the goal. Sometimes that might require technical terms and dense grammar; other times it will only require words of two syllables and simple grammar.

I was afraid to read this post because I was worried I might be guilty of all 5 reasons you wouldn’t read my content. Happily, I am doing none of them! My blog is still a bit of a work in progress, but then again, so am I. Thank you!

Just a word of advice from a non-blogger who clicked your blog to read it, I know you said it’s a work in progress so maybe you are planning to do this, but you might want to invest in a more modern theme/template as the black background can seem a little bit amateur. white is clean and crisp and always a good shout for a blog. Sorry if this seems rude, just trying to say what could help

File this under ~ reasons why people don’t want to comment on this post. It took 15 scrolls to get to this box. Consider nesting & paging your comments. Love this post, spot on but take a quick look at your “click to tweet” and see what is wrong there. I appreciate this & will follow you to know more & wish you much success.

I know and usually admit in my blog that I commit the sin of “too long”. As you wisely suggested, I try to break these gigantio posts up with pics & paragraphs, but still I’m asking a lot from my followers. (I think you follow it so my apologies!)

While I think I imbue passion & thought into my posts, nevertheless, that only goes so far. I get turned off by other bloggers who write a novella & I lose interest after 500-600 words.(I read somewhere that the ideal blog post length is 500 words!) I better stop being a hypocrite, ha ha!

Sorry it took me a couple days to reply; I know you understand how some days flow for us better than others in the blogosphere.

I definitely needed your reminder of splitting a post in two. I tried writing a two-parter a couple times over the past few months, but get this – – I made each part waaaaay too long, defeating the purpose. So next time it’ll be a 3-parter, or I’ll just have to do that thing I’ve heard writers can do called edit. :0

WordPress has become, to a certain extent, an eye-for-an-eye system. You like my post, I visit your site and like your post. If you’re not spending hours each day reading blogs or aren’t Freshly Pressed, your blog can wither out there in the cold wind of the blogosphere for years. It’s simply not enough to write compelling, helpful or humorous blog content. I feel extremely lucky to have been Freshly Pressed twice – in one case, with my very first blog post. Had I not been selected for that honor and had I not taken the taken the time to develop what have turned out to be nurturing and lasting relationships with many bloggers, I don’t know that Miss Snarky Pants would be successful. Thank you for your feedback on what turns you off; it’s helpful information. Good to know I’ve been doing this long enough to have avoided some of these mistakes. 🙂

Blogging can be very time consuming and sometimes I feel really bad because I haven’t had a chance to read everyone I want too. Congratulations on your success. It sounds like you really enjoy what you do and so do your readers.

So you found my pin that looks like a toilet? lol It is not but some have said that is what it looks like. It is so popular now, I don’t have the heart to change it. I am so glad you found me and thank you for reading.

I leave the moment the blog isn’t mobile-friendly unless I’m really, really, really interested in the topic. Not just when the post is too small to read – the worst are the layouts which have various moving features which will overlap the text when I view it on my tablet.

Hi there Elena – for me I won’t bother with fonts that are pale coloured on an equally pale background – my eyes have been reading a lot and they scream Nooooo when it’s all pale. Oh and immediate pop ups or flashing ads everywhere. Yuk and bye bye.

Great user perceptive! So many times we are focused on bells and whistles and OUR end goal that we forget about the users. Thanks for the tips. BTW – I followed this article from Pinterest – your PIN was very clickable 🙂

Toilet!! That made me chuckle! I couldn’t decide if it was a toilet or a Today Sponge….but the toilet makes sense…it’s was like ‘flushing’ something you didn’t want. I think it’s pretty eye catching and novel!

Wow, I just discovered your blog and I totes wish I’d thought of that name when designing my new one this year! LOL, I just turned 50 and I’m actually trying to come to grips with empty nesting (although I still have one at home, just perched on the edge)!
I agree 100% about the subscription thing which has me holding off doing it – but I like you’re idea of 3/4 of the way down. Also, I just visited a blog where she had hers on the far right and that wasn’t annoying either – in fact, I signed up for her email!
I recently installed a home/landing page (even though I tried to stay away from that) for the simple reason of explaining to my redirected audience that this is the new place to be and yes-you-really-did-find-the-right-blog. I’m hoping that the way I designed it (with lots of pics and familiar links they may be looking for) will keep them staying on the page for a while.
Love your blog – consider this pinned and yourself followed!

I recently started a blog and these tips are very helpful! I need to remove my popup! I didn’t think anything about it when I started the blog. I also need to check the mobile view. Thanks for the awesome tips!
-Fins

First of all I have to say WOW for the amount of comments under this post. I am very new in the “blogging business” and I would like to say thank you for your input. First thing I did after reading your post – I made sure that my blog is mobile friendly.

Thank you so much Margaret. Mobile friendly is so important to search engines, it really is a must and when someone doesn’t have it, it most certainly means they have a really old theme as all new ones are now.

I suppose what stops me from reading a blog is just the writing style, the post having a lack of purpose or the blog being too long for what it is, but then I’m more picky about what I read and read few enough blogs to deal with annoying layouts.

I was going to just leave a quick, “Wow, this was very helpful!”-type comment (because it is a great article), but scrolling through your comments, I have to say that the fact you replied to every single one is damn impressive!! Now THAT is another good bit of advice you’re serving up by way of example: engaging with readers. You can’t see me, but if you could, know that I am bowing down to greatness.

Oh, thank you Laurie! Sometimes I am a little slow but I like to acknowledge my comments. This post has definitely created some great discussions and I will be doing a follow-up post using the awesome comments from my readers.

Holy crap! You hit the nail right on the head with the annoying subscribe popups. I actually wrote a post about that and other things that pisses me off about other bloggers. I think it will be up next week. I think the reason a lot of people do this shit is because they mostly read other blogs on Feed readers and when you do that, you avoid the popups.

This was priceless, and even though I had to scroll through a million comments ts to leave mine, it was so worth it!

Sorry for the late reply Stacey. Your comment was in spam for some reason. I’m glad you could relate to my post and I am sure I am going to do a follow up using all the comments so sorry for the scrolling! Tag me on twitter when your post is up, I would love to read it.

Hey Elene! I happened on your blog post via Pinterest, and I have thoroughly enjoyed reading it! You definitely struck a chord with me! I absolutely agree with you about the pop-up email sign up forms, especially if I haven’t even read the first full sentence of the post and I’m not sure if I am even interested in reading the first paragraph for that matter! Ugghhh! Those frustrate me, too. Although my blog is mobile friendly, for some reason, my blog’s header isn’t set up correctly and I have to find a solution to fix that somehow (I’m still a WP novice). I’m not a big fan of music blaring at me when I first visit a blog post (it’s not as prevalent now, but still a few on Tumblr do). I have a very hard time reading blogs with a black background. And I can’t handle blinking ads in any post (very irritating!). I’ve been working on taking my own photos for my blog posts, and writing content that’s interesting, informative, helpful, entertaining, and enjoyable for the reader. Hopefully, I’m succeeding with that, too. 🙂

I I can’t believe it when I visit a blog and they are still using auto-starters. What?!?! And How-to posts that really don’t tell you how to. Or even ones that don’t follow what the advert indicated the post was about. And I loathe google ads in the middle of the post. I know that they are a gold-mine for clicks but I just can’t do them. I also don’t like blogs that make you search for the content. If you just have to have them surrounded by ads, make the content pop by making the content box background a lighter color than the ad boxes.

All the “guru” bloggers are always talking about lead pages but I hate lead pages. They seem so spammy to me. And they don’t tell you the price until you get all the way to the bottom.

Good points! I’m generally in a hurry to find what I was looking for on a blog and maybe some other content that I can relate to. Pop-Up email requests bother me no matter WHEN they pop-up. I’m smart enough to find how to subscribe to your newsletter if that’s what I want to do. *wink* *wink*

It seems that everyone is in agreement about pop-ups. And yes, how about we just assume the readers are smart enough to find the subscribe button. lol Thank you for stopping by and taking the time to comment Cassie.

Powerful post! I have to agree. I only recently added a popup to my site and I hope it doesn’t pop too soon 😉 I added something called “welcome mat” on my home page only, but even that I found too intrusive – not really welcoming 😉 Deleted it the next day.

Everything you said, of course! Just to add a couple of my own pet peeves:

-No pics is bad, but too many is also bad. I hate when I’m after a recipe and can’t find the actual instructions because there are 10 photos of the finished dish from every angle plus individual pics of every utensil and step. Choose the best 1-3! If it’s really that technically hard to make, post an instructional video instead.

-Slide shows where you have to click through every shot as a separate page — professional magazine sites (like Conde Nast Traveler) are terrible about this, and bloggers should not copy. I understand they need the ad revenue, but the wait is not worth it to me.

-Also (not a peeve), Google recently announced that responsiveness to mobile screen sizes will be considered in their site rankings, so it’s worth compliance even if one doesn’t personally care.

There are ways to make a slide show without it going to another page and I have done that. I know exactly what you are talking about and I hate that too. I have reminded people several times about the mobile responsiveness and Google and I’m not sure why people won’t comply. In fact, if you have the jetpak plug-in, it is one click!
P.S. I transferred your comment to this one and deleted the other. No worries.

I agree about the slide shows! Sometimes I like to skim a post before I decide if I want to take the time to read the whole thing. I don’t want to read a post if I have no way of knowing what it is I’m agreeing to read!

It’s the gifs that get me. They can be really annoying and my eyes are always drawn to them when I am trying to read a post. If a post is covered with them then I’ll move on to a blog where there are none. I don’t mind photos and pictures within a post. In fact they can brighten up the post and give the reader a bit of a break from the reading when the post is very long.

I also loathe pop ups and having to click through to a post – and yet they are popular with many successful blogs, I don’t get it. I guess it’s about the clicks, but as a reader it make me less likely to return or persevere as you say. I am definitely guilty of no.4, though some of my posts have lots of photos sometimes I just don’t have a relevant picture, hopefully people who read my blog don’t mind too much! As a new(ish) blogger of almost a year, I have found the visual aspect of blogging to be the most challenging by far. I’m on Blogger so I don’t have as much access to bells and whistles ( I think!), but I would probably fall into that temptation too given half a chance! Great post thanks 🙂

Hi Elena, what a useful post, thank you! I’m a newbie blogger and had fallen into the trap of the CTA mat…. which I’ve now changed.
I also agree with the mobile-friendly point as I too just X out rather than move my screen left and right to read an article – it surprises me how often well known, large websites don’t have mobile-friendly options.
Like you, I mostly read on my mobile, so I need all images to be zoomable or clickable to read what they say. Agree?
As you’re such an experienced blog reader (I didn’t know anyone could read so many blogs on a daily basis!) I’d love you to visit my blog which I’ve recently started. Did I pass? 🙂

Your blog url made me curious, so I went to read your blog. I like your layout. Good use of white space. However, I wanted to comment on your Throttle post and cannot find a way to comment and you had a CTA question in your post. If there is a way to comment, you might look at making it more obvious. If there isn’t, you might consider adding one.

Hi Tiffany, thank you SO MUCH for taking the time to visit my blog. Your feedback was really useful, and I’ve now checked that all my posts have a comments section available… so I look forward to receiving my blog’s first comment to set the ball rolling 🙂

It is surprising how many large websites are not mobile. I don’t understand that. And yes, I have almost put CTA’s on here several times but I just couldn’t do it. I briefly looked at your blog and it looks great. Will have a more in depth look later. There was nothing popping up so I will go back! lol

Yes. This. All of this. Popups are SO annoying to me that I refuse to use them in my blog, against the advice of some. I won’t even do the 75% thing. It may cost me a follower or two, but I prefer not to annoy people.
Great post! Sharing! 🙂

Great post, I hate pop ups, my local newspaper’s site used to be quite informative and useful before they ruined it with countless adverts. I’ve just realised how much Linkis had taken over my Twitter feed, (now turned off) and have fixed a problem with how my site displayed on mobile devices.

I agree with your points. What I find rather annoying is this trend that tells bloggers they *have* to have a “call to action”… and they *have* to offer some sort of e-book freebie to get people to sign up for their email list. Yes, give me a way to subscribe by email if I want (which I probably don’t, because if I like your blog I will add it to my reader), but a form in the side-bar is adequate, IMHO.

Off-topic: I love your blog layout. That’s exactly what I have in mind for mine, if I can ever get there. Most recent post front-and-center, others tiled below it. I’m just still new to WordPress and trying to get it all figured out.

Depends on the length of the post but usually one centered pic is enough. Play around with number and different ways to place them. You can always delete them or move them around if you don’t like the way it looks.

Sorry for delay in response. I just found your comment in the spam file.

What a great post! #1 is my all time blog pet peeve. Even the big bloggers use that bloody CTA PITA. There are some great comments on here and as I ready by blog for launch, I am taking notes. Can’t wait to read more from you. I like your directness AND how clean your site it. Happy Blogging!

I DO like what I just experienced – the “Leave a Reply” box at the end of the comments, so I don’t have to scroll back up and hunt for the “comment” button.

I have decent cable internet, but autoplay video, slideshows or audio irritates me. I’m here to read your post, not watch TV. If there is a video or podcast, I want to see a transcript or at least bullet points, so I know if that media is worth my time.

Another problem is excessive ads, which also slow down the loading and make the screen jump around for the first few seconds. Those blogs scream “I’m just in this for the money!” I think it’s great to monetize a blog if you have valuable content, as long as it doesn’t become the main point of your blog.

I like pinnable images, too. I found this article on pinterest. I use pinterest to bookmark things I want to read or refer to later, so having a visual link as well as text makes it easy for me to find the right link when I want it.

There are so many good pointers here, in the comments as well as in your article. Thank you!

This really is a great post. Thank you for writing it Elena. For someone who has been writing for a while it opens my eyes to some of the things I may be doing wrong. Hopefully I escape the figurative red pen test. The only one I nearly tripped up on was the post length, but I average around 1500 words on a long post and as you mentioned on a previous comment The “experts” say that is about right.

On most of the Technical WordPress blogs I read the CTA PopUps drive me mad. they happen on the way in and on the way out of the blog post. If I didn’t want to subscribe once I am pretty sure I don’t twice. My other main bug is small typography. In today’s world of responsiveness I think that fonts should be big and bold, I shouldn’t have to be “CTRL +” to make the fonts bigger on my screen. Maybe it’s just me that’s heading into the Grumpy Old Man stage of life who knows!

I definitely agree with all of these and hope I am not an offender. One thing that annoys me that I refuse to (knowingly) participate in are annoying ads. Pop-ups, pop-unders, videos that auto-play…ack! Get me out of here! I understand bloggers and websites need to make money and happily try to support in any way I can, but please don’t assault me. If I hear “Congratulations!” I click off immediately.

Great Post. I agree with the pop ups right after entering a site. What kills me is some sites I go to I will click to close the first pop up and then another one or two will pop up. I’m like geesh, i feel like I’m swatting flies trying to read your post. 🙂

Hi Elena,
Thank you for writing this. I’m a newbie. My blog is only about a month old so it was helpful for me to read this. My big pet peeve is ad overkill especially in the middle of the post. I really don’t want to even have ads on my blog because they annoy me so much.

I am curious what do you think the optimal post length is? I’d love for you to check out my blog and tell me what annoys you. lol

As soon as I read the part about length my heart sank as I am notoriously verbose when I get going, but according to the “experts” I am OK. As I usually hit around that mark on a good day. Thanks for setting my sunken heart at rest. 🙂

Nice article. My #1 pet peeve that I’ve even made articles about and pins on Pinterest, is Mobile Ready Your Websites people! I say at least 50% of the sites I look at, don’t fit on my iphone or don’t even work at all on mobile, freezing the screen. Uuuugh!

So true! Very good points! For me, I love the photos on sites but do not enjoy having to scroll to see the whole pic, kind of makes be dizzy going back and forth! If I minimize the viewing level of my browser then I cannot read the post. Also, if a website takes forever to load sometimes I just “x” out instead. Of course, that is probably more about my connection rather than their site! ;0)

Number 1 is my main reason too. It is also why I am hesitant to have a cta at all in my blog. I am also turned off by a page that has too much going on or if I can’t navigate around it. I am working on growing my readership and wonder what people think about my blog so your title is what got me. Thanks for sharing!

Fabulous list! As many people commented above, #1 is a definite turn off. Even worse is when the pop up is so big on a mobile device that it covers the entire post. Many times I spend more time trying to figure out how to get rid of the pop up and then lose interest in even reading the post!

I enjoyed reading this (thanks for the share Kristin), but despite self evaluating, I still wonder if my blog is making the cut. Also, you mentioned mostly finding and commenting on blog posts through social media, but I find it so hard to find readers that way. Most of mine come from Pinterest and good search. I was previously heavily involved in a Stitch Fix BST group, but am limited now that I am a stylist. Any suggestions on places to share and draw in new readers?

Hi Melanie. Pinterest is a great place to find new readers, mostly because you reach an audience beyond other bloggers. I would continue to focus there if you are seeing good results. I no longer participate in traditional group shares as I found it very time consuming and sometimes very restrictive. Mostly because the other bloggers were far outside my niche and therefore we weren’t any help to each other at all. For me, blogging has been a steady curve upward and I am happy with that. Don’t get sucked into the articles that tell you that you can increase your pageviews in a short period of time. Yes, some can do it but not all. And it also depends on your niche of course. Hopefully, you can continue with engaging content and by word of mouth, people will find you. I’m sorry if this doesn’t give you the answer you are looking for but I truly do not believe there is a magic solution for any one blogger. What I have seen is that people that stick it out, that continue to blog over the long, hard haul, eventually begin to see the results they are looking for. Stick with it!

Your post got me to click, right? New reader. Why did I click? Curiosity about your title and pleasing graphic. Your post models the points you make, thank you! It’s punchy, conversational and relates to my frustrations as a reader too. I try not to make these mistakes on my Big Dream Mid-Life Career blog. Well done, Elena!

oh, that first one is supper annoying. Also when it takes too long for the post page to load. I’ve got slow internet. I try to optimize my pictures / images for webpage, thus they don’t take that long to load.

These things had to be said! Everyone one of your items is about respecting your reader. Great post Elena – I agree with all of them. I will add that another one for me is typos, spelling mistakes and major grammar faux pas. If we write, we should also take the time to write well.

Great post, Elena. Agree on everything — I’ve also clicked on the X too many times on posts that I really wanted to read (at first), simply because the site felt so unwelcoming. I realize lots of bloggers are making $$ off their blogs, and they have little control over what ads their readers see, but pushy ads turn me away pretty fast.

Wow. You hit a nerve on the pop-up as soon as you hit the page. Drive me crazy and will drive me right off a site, not matter how compelling the title was. If the pop up hits as soon as I hit the page, I leave.

I’m a self-hosted, wordpress.org blog so reblog is not available. Yo can do it yourself by making an intro, copying and pasting a paragraph from my post into your post, then linking the words “read more” to my post. Hope that helps you. Let me know if you have any more questions.

Nice job, and similar – but different – here is my own list of “Reasons I Didn’t Read Your Blog Post”: 1. Unattractive pictures, website design, etc. (yes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and in this case I’m the one beholding your stuff – so if it’s not attractive, it probably won’t make me want to learn more about you or what you have to say.) 2. A super ‘busy’ page. (‘Busy’ designs scream ‘spammy type person alert’ to me.) 3. Profanity. I think a real writer ought to have a strong enough command of the language to be able to use actual descriptive words rather than the simple language choice promoted by uneducated street thugs. 4. Highly ‘self’ center posts. I am interested in peoples’ stories…to a point. Beyond that, and I end up thinking how miserable it would be to have to be around this person for very long at a party – or anyplace else. 5. Anything thata is technical. To me, this should just always be done via video. Period. There’s probably more, but that’s my TOP 5. haha. #MidLifeLuv

I spend at least 1 hour a day looking for blog post to share on my social media or to just comment on, and people just don’t realize that the whole subscribe right this minute thing is a turn off. I want to know the people that are in my inbox. Between that and the different colored fonts. I don’t care what your post says if it’s in yellow and I can’t read it.

Hi Brittany! Thank you so much for stopping by and leaving a comment. I realize how important it is to build email lists but bloggers must realize that there is a way to do it without looking like a cheap, pushy car salesman. And yes, if I can’t see it, I can’t read it, I’m outta there! lol

Email pop ups and subscription requests drive me nuts. And blogs where there is so much on the page, my eyes don’t know where to look because there are so many points on the screen vying for my attention. All that visual noise curdles my brain! I’ve stopped following at least a couple of blogs precisely because of these two points. I slightly diverge away from you on point 4 simply because I enjoy longer posts – as along as there’s no waffling. Being succinct is a difficult art form to master. However, time and time again I’ve read short or shorter posts that have been like eating a very bland mousse. I’ve reached the end and thought did I even taste anything there? I do like some substance. It maybe because I read a wide variety of blogs from fitness/anatomy/movement blogs, social/economic ones to fashion/style ones. Well written, well researched blogs packed with info are worth their weight in gold to me, especially as I feel so much print journalism has become diluted.

Your double click point was interesting because I sort of experienced something similar on discovering you! I found your article and site via Jodie. I clicked on your website link on your twitter profile which took me to your about page. I then had to click again to go to your home page and click again to read a post. I wonder why you have it set up like that when your twitter profile already gives me a feel of who you are and what you’re about? I’m not being an awkward bugger by the way or trying to offend you, I’m genuinely curious! I know I maybe odd but I like to read a couple of posts by a blogger first. If their writing style/content interests, then I go and find out more about them to, in a way, fill in the blanks. If that makes sense!

I shall stop now as I don’t want to fall into my own trap of waffling!

I completely agree with you, Elena. I hate all those popups when I am on someone’s blog for the first time. What??? Argh. The Linkis thing seems new to me (talked about it last night in a thread) so I have to investigate. No idea about what that is. Not as tech savvy as you!

Nice to meet you too Cathy! The linkis is a way for someone to keep track analytically of all their tweets. Great concept except for the fact that it has a pop up ad you must deal with first before getting to the post.

Great post – these are the things I don’t like:
Preachy posts
Egocentric posts
Posts that obsess about age
Posts by self-proclaimed ‘experts’
‘Fluffy’ sites.
Pop ups – I HATE them with a passion and like you, click straight off the site.
Masses of ads that force you to play spot the actual blog post text

I love seeing stuff where people are clearly trying, even if others judge it not to have enough of this or, too much of that. It takes guts to put yourself ‘out there’ and I often comment blogs on that aren’t that great yet because I know the person probably really needs encouragement to keep going and improve. We are all at different stages of development – love ’em all – write on!

Cool! Just remember some people are not very tech savvy and still learning about putting pictures up and many people like myself don’t own a smart phone so we literally have no clue what it is like to look at small screen. I do have to agree that I personally do like having to scroll down to keep reading. Yes, I know I am guilty of that but it is people who continually do it and if I am annoyed by it on a computer screen, I cant even imagine how difficult it is on a phone.

Hi Elena! I am one of those LONG blog post bloggers but that is the type of blog post I like reading myself. What keeps me from coming back is?

#1 Lots of ads…so many ads you can’t even read the post.
#2 no content except a quote or a photo….really, I don’t have time for that. If I want Pinterest I will go to pinterest.
#3 Posts with twitter links or ads in the middle so you loose your place.
#4 Popup sign up forms (just like you this one makes me crazy)
#5 No way to make comments–comments shut off.
#6 Bloggers who never return the visit. I know it’s hard and takes time, but really–reciprocity is very important.

Whew! thanks for the chance to get that off my chest! 🙂 Now, back to correctly all the problems on my blog! ~Kathy

I have gotten bad at commenting lately too. I think I am just more pressed for time in the summer. I too never share without reading, so it can become time consuming. I shall try harder to do all 3 steps! (read, comment, share)
And, I also have no idea if I am mobile friendly!

😀 Your post made me laugh! You are so, so right on every single point you make. Loved the sarcasm too.
I must admit it is a struggle to not press X on a badly presented blog too although I am perfectly aware I am judging too fast. There have been blogs with no-so-great layout but compelling content… Maybe we should give each other the benefit of the doubt. I’m sure so many people may have been put off by something they’ve read on a random post of mine and drawn conclusions way too fast and boy, I’ve done the same but… here’s to being more patient! 🙂

Font colours: Red font, black background. Byeeee
Email popups (as described above), good luck to ya, I’m outta here.
Tons of Ads: cool you are making money on blogging, I’m not, so see ya.. you won’t make a dime off of me.
Too long, keep it under 300 words, i’m super important, ok, I’m no one but I’m at work, if it takes me ten minutes to read, i’m not getting fired for you 🙂

I like a nice clean page, easy to navigate to the fun bits. I’m not going to waste time looking for the fun, I like it right in my face…

I’m not blogger, just this yr. I’ve started looking at fashion bloggers, then jewelry/crafters bloggers.
AND…Oh my gosh, YES ON ALL THE ABOVE. I am with you on all 5 points.
One extra point is… (just for me in my opinion)
I only like to subscribe to via email,
I don’t really do all the others.
Call me crazy, or old fashion, I’m ok with that.
Oh, while we are on the subject.
I also wish that bloggers would include in the ABOUT contents the following,
Their age, and the city and state they are from. I have been searching for bloggers in my area that are in my age group, with no luck. But then again, I’m new to this blogging thing.
TY for your post today, glad to know I’m not the only one thinking the same way.

That’s an interesting point but I suppose a lot of bloggers like to have some level of anonymity, also personally I want people to get to know me through reading my posts, not to click on an about page and decide weather I’m worth the time because of my age, my gender and location. I do see where you coming from though, it makes sense.

HELLO!

Elena Peters is a midlife woman who redefined her life after quitting her upper management job just before her 50th birthday. She reached for the stars and followed her passion for blogging. In three short years, her blogs have amassed more than 4 million pageviews!

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